Lawrence rushes for 431 as Eagles squash Lions

BIGGERSVILLE – In a back-and-forth affair for three quarters, the Falkner Eagles couldn’t stop the passing of the Biggersville Lions, but the Lions couldn’t stop the ground attack of the Eagles.
In the end, the Eagles convincingly ran away with a 76-40 Division 1-1A victory over the Lions thanks to 588 yards rushing. The Eagles got 431 yards of that from sophomore running back Jeramie Lawrence, who also added seven rushing TDs, both Falkner school records.
He said he took it upon himself after two miscues in the first half.
“I had two turnovers early and I knew something had to change,” said Lawrence. “I held on to the ball in the second half and we did what we had to do as a team.”
The Eagles took an early 14-0 lead after first-quarter TDs by Lawrence and quarterback Jase Stroupe. Biggersville battled back to take a 18-14 lead after quarterback Blake Stacy tossed three touchdown passes of 46, 4 and 15 yards after three consecutive fumbles by Falkner.
Stacy finished 13 of 17 for 230 yards and five touchdowns.
Falkner (5-1) responded with Lawrence, who had 10 carries for 184 yards and TD runs of 46, 35 and 72 yards in the second quarter alone. The Eagles led 32-24 at the break.
“We were up 14 points, then we give up a big play, then we turn it over on three straight possessions, but thankfully they never quit playing and never quit fighting,” said Falkner coach Ben Ashley.
“We put it in the hands of our two best threats and they both had big games.”
Biggerville (2-4) took a brief 40-32 lead following Stacy’s 55-yard TD pass to Bradley Davis and a 45-yard interception return by Darion Barnett, who had four scores for the Lions.
The rest was all Falkner.
The picked off Stacy on three straight possessions and Lawrence added TD runs of 23, 19 and 65 yards. Stroupe and Adaveun Burress added runs of 1-yard each and Dallas Hill had a 70-yard interception return. Stroupe finished with 115 yards rushing.
“We took a lead, but depth got to us. We were just wore out.” said Biggersville coach Ronnie Lawson. “But we can’t give up over 400 yards to one player and expect to be successful.”